


You're My Best Friend

by Aj4668



Series: Missing Pieces [6]
Category: Glee
Genre: Alive Finn Hudson, Future Fic, Implied Sexual Content, Language, M/M, Minor Character Death, sort of canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-16
Updated: 2016-04-27
Packaged: 2018-05-27 04:14:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 16,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6269287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aj4668/pseuds/Aj4668
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You know I'll never be lonely<br/>You're my only one<br/>And I love the things<br/>I really love the things that you do<br/>You're my best friend.”</p>
<p>You’ve been my best friend since first grade, and now you’re the love of my life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Beta'd by the awesome [fearlessly](http://archiveofourown.org/users/fearlessly)! Any mistakes are my own.
> 
>  
> 
> This is part of the Missing Pieces series. All of the couples' stories complement other stories in the series, and will be more enjoyable (and will likely make more sense) if you read all of them.

Finn and Puck had never not been together, not really.

They’d gone to school together starting in first grade. They’d played football together starting in youth leagues through high school, and had been in Glee Club together. 

Even after graduation, after Finn had put Rachel on the train to New York to follow her dreams, after Finn was semi-honorably discharged from the army, as Finn completed two semesters at The University of Lima, Puck had ended up being his roommate, though he wasn’t even enrolled. 

Puck had gone to Los Angeles to start his pool cleaning business, came back for a time, and then he and Finn decided that Lima wasn’t the place for them, and together, they could succeed in LA. Puck decided he still may write a screenplay one day, but for now, it’s pools.

So they left, together, in the summer of 2014, and got a crappy two-bedroom apartment. Finn enrolled at UCLA to continue his education. Puck started Puckerman Pool Service, and they kept busy proving how special they were to those who doubted them.

Anytime either one had a bad day, or had doubts, they remembered Puck’s words:

“We’ve always known we were special. This is our chance to prove it.”

They loved LA. They loved the weather, the city, the people. They had met people through Puck’s business, Finn’s classes, and while going out with Mercedes or other friends.

 

Puck had long ago realized that he was in love with Finn, but knowing that Finn was straight, he contented himself with being his best friend. As far as Puck knew, Finn had no idea that he was in love with him and he wanted to keep it that way.

Finn had long ago realized he was in love with Puck, but for the same reasons, he kept it to himself. He was pretty sure Puck didn’t know how he felt, and that Puck was totally unaware that he even liked guys, and he wanted to keep it that way.

 

One day, in late 2014, Finn texted Puck and let him know he’d be going out with some people from one of his classes, and he’d be home late. They had always done that for each other, not because they were co-dependent or over-protective, but just to let the other one know in case something happened. At heart, they were still boys from Lima, OH., and LA was a big city.

Finn was out all night, which Puck didn’t realize until he got up the next morning and noticed the coffee hadn’t been started. Puck checked Finn’s room to wake him up for class, and Finn’s bed was empty.

Puck checked his phone. Maybe Finn had gotten lucky with some girl and had texted, and Puck slept through it. No messages.

Puck texted Finn, and he started to worry. He realized he didn’t even know where Finn had gone, or who he’d gone out with. He knew first names of people from Finn’s classes, but that was it.

Ten minutes, then 15 minutes passed, with no response to his text. Puck was going to have to go to work soon, and he wasn’t in a place where he could take a day off from work unless it was a true emergency, and he didn’t know if this was that yet. 

He called Finn’s phone, and it went straight to voicemail. Fuck. Either it was off, or the battery was dead. Knowing Finn as he did, the battery had died. But why? Where was he? 

Puck went to work, and he texted every chance he got. He’d decided that if he didn’t hear anything by 2pm, he’d just go to campus and find one of Finn’s professors and figure out who these people were that he’d gone out with. Or he’d go to the police. Something, anything.

 

At 11:30am, on his way to his next pool, he called Rachel and Kurt, who hadn’t heard from him, either, and had no idea who he’d be out with. Kurt thought he’d mentioned a guy named Scott the last time they’d talked, but it may have been Chris, he wasn’t sure. Yeah, helpful. 

Kurt and Rachel both wanted Puck to let them know when Finn was found, and Puck assured them he would.

By now, Puck was frantic. His thoughts now were going to morbid places: never seeing his best friend again, never seeing the man he loved again, having to tell Carole that Finn was gone. Fuck. 

He needed to find him.

Puck finished his next pool, thankfully his last of the day. He got in his truck, and called Finn’s phone again. No answer, straight to voice mail.

 

Puck went back to their apartment to get Finn’s schedule that was posted on the fridge, and headed back out to go to UCLA’s campus to talk to Finn’s professors, or students, or whoever would talk to him.

He jumped in his truck, and was about to back out when he saw Finn’s truck pull in. He slammed his truck back in park, yanked his keys out, jumped out, slammed the door, and ran to Finn.

“Where the fuck have you been? Fuck, you’re okay.” Puck hugged him.

“Dude, what? I’m fine. I went out with Chris and Scott and a few other guys last night, got drunk and stayed at Scott’s place.”

“What the fuck? You’ve been gone all fucking day and didn’t text or respond to texts or calls? Since that’s never happened before, I didn’t know if you got lucky or got dead, dude,” Puck yelled.

“Why the fuck are you yelling at me? You aren’t my father, or my boyfriend. I don’t need to check in with you every hour.” Finn walked away and into their apartment.

Puck followed him, and said, “Dude, what the fuck is that? We always let each other know if we are going to be gone. It’s not fucking checking in like I’m your fucking father. I thought we were best friends. What the fuck is this about? I do that for you, and don’t think you’re my babysitter. Wait. Is that a hickey on your neck?”

“What? No,” Finn said, but his hand went to cover the exact spot as if he knew it was there. Finn knew he had to chill out, or Puck would figure out why he was so defensive. He wasn’t ready to share, not just yet. He went into his room to plug in his phone to charge.

“What the hell, dude? What happened? What aren’t you telling me, and why are you yelling at me instead?”

“Nothing. I just got some last night. I didn’t know I had to tell you every time I got laid,” Finn said with a smirk as he came back out of his room.

“You don’t, but something isn’t right here. You know I’m here if you want to talk about it.”

“Yeah, whatever, dude. Leave me alone.” So much for not being defensive, Finn thought.

“Yeah, that’s fine, whatever. I have to call Rachel and Kurt and let them know you’re actually fucking alive. They actually care, too, though I’ll make sure to let them know not to next time,” Puck said.

“You called Rachel and Kurt? Jesus, dude. Why?”

“Again, thought you were dead. I’m not apologizing. Get over it. I’d do it again.”

Puck texted Rachel and Kurt and let them know Finn was alive, that he got drunk and passed out at a buddy’s place, and was fine. When Finn’s phone started chiming with texts, he grinned a bit evilly. Good. Let Finn deal with their questions and anger. Puck was done.

Finn locked himself in his bedroom, and Puck sat on their ugly secondhand couch and played some Xbox, working out some anger by killing zombies.


	2. Chapter 2

A couple of hours later, Finn came out of his room to get something to eat. He looked in Puck’s general direction, but didn’t say anything, then opened the fridge and stared for a few minutes. Since nothing looked good to him, he closed the door, and sighed. 

“Wanna order a pizza?” he asked Puck.

“Oh you’re talking to me now?” Puck asked. He knew it was fairly childish, but he was still pissed. 

“Whatever, dude. I’m starving, and want a pizza. I’m getting an extra large, loaded. If you want some, you can have some.” Finn went back into his room and slammed the door.

“Fuck it,” Puck muttered. Let him be mad, though he had no reason to be. None of this made any sense, so fuck it.

 

A short time later the pizza arrived, and when the delivery guy knocked, Puck stayed on the couch, and just yelled, “PIZZA”.

Finn came out of his room, mumbled, “Thanks, and I’m sure the neighbors thank you, too,” and opened the door to get his pizza, then brought it into their small kitchen area.

“Are you going to have any?” Finn asked.

“Fuck yeah, least you can do is buy me dinner,” Puck said.

“Dude, look, I’m sorry you worried. You didn’t have to,” Finn said.

“What the hell kind of apology is that? You’re sorry I worried? I didn’t have to? No, I didn’t have to, and I wouldn’t have had you taken five fucking seconds to send me a text that said ‘getting some, back tomorrow’. We’ve never not done that, and for some reason, last night, you didn’t, and then say I’m acting like your damned father or your boyfriend for worrying.”

“Okay fine, I’m sorry. I should have texted. Kurt’s already lectured me. You don’t need to.”

“Fuck that. What did Kurt say that got through to you that I didn’t say?”

“Nothing, really, but I wanted to talk to him about some other stuff, and he told me I was being stupid about a lot of things, including this,” Finn said, hanging his head a little.

“What other stuff? You okay, man?” 

“I guess. Eat your pizza, and I’ll tell you later.”

 

They ate in silence, and when they were done, cleaned the kitchen by throwing the paper plates into the proper recycling bin, and putting the leftover pizza in the fridge. Puck went back into the living room, and was going to start his game again when Finn came in and sat down in the overstuffed chair next to the couch. The chair was actually new and only highlighted how ugly and old the couch was.

“So I need to tell you about last night, I guess,” Finn said.

“You in trouble? Did you get arrested for something? What do we need to do?” Puck said, and threw down the game controller, ready to do whatever he needed to help Finn.

Fuck. Now Finn felt really bad. Of course Puck would worry. Puck always had his back, and no matter what, he always would. So why was he having so much trouble with this one thing?

“No, I’m not in trouble, but thanks. And dude, I really am sorry. I should have known you’d worry. I was a jerk,” Finn said, and looked at Puck with tears in his eyes.

“Dude, okay, don’t cry. What’s going on?”

“Scott? The guy from last night?”

“Yeah,” Puck said, and suddenly, Puck didn’t want to hear anymore, but he steeled himself. “Did he hurt you? Drug you? Do we need to go to the police? The hospital?”

“Dude, no! He’s great.”

He’s great? Puck thought. What the hell? It sounded like…

“I’m dating him,” Finn said.

Fuck, yep, that’s what it sounded like. 

“What?” Puck asked.

“We’re dating.”

“Since when? And since when do you like guys?” Puck tried really hard to be cool, and to not sound accusatory. He was pretty sure he failed.

“Dude, chill. It’s not a crime, ya know. I don’t know when I started liking guys, but Scott and I have been out a few times.”

“And what? You fucked him?” Nice, Puck. Way to be a great friend.

“Since when are you homophobic?” Finn asked. “You never ask me about girls, at least not like that.”

“I’m not, but you don’t lie to me about girls.” Sure, Puck thought, put the blame on Finn. Best friend, for sure. Way to be amazing with his coming out.

“Well, clearly I had good reason to, dude.” 

“Okay, you’re right. I’m sorry. I’m being a dick. I’m just surprised, and still pissed from last night.” He paused, gathered himself. “Okay, I’m over it. So tell me about this. How did this happen?” Puck asked.

Puck decided in that moment that if Finn was happy, he’d be happy for him, and if he had to suppress his own feelings, he would. So Finn wasn’t interested in him, that’s okay. Well, it wasn’t, but he’d make it okay, for Finn.

“Well, he’s in my music theory class, and we just kinda hit it off. I like him. I mean, he’s the first guy I’ve dated, or even, well, been with, but he’s really cool,” Finn said with that half-grin that always made Puck’s heart race.

“Well, that’s awesome, really. I’m happy for you. And you’ve talked to Kurt about the safe sex stuff, and all the um, mechanics?” Puck asked.

“Mechanics. Has every one of my friends had the talk from Burt?”

“Yep, so you know you matter, right? Because dude, you really do.” Puck said this with a laugh, but his eyes were intent on Finn’s. He wanted Finn to know how much he mattered. He hoped this Scott guy knew that, too.

“Yep, Kurt told me all that and then some, and I know I matter, but thank you. Honestly. It means a lot.” 

“So when do I get to meet this guy?” Puck asked. Oh, just kill him now. Why did he say that? He was going to meet the guy that was fucking Finn? Shit.

“Maybe this weekend we can all go out.”

“Sure, sounds good.” Right. What a liar, Puck thought. Fuck.


	3. Chapter 3

Saturday night, Puck and Finn met Scott and some other people from Finn’s class at a bar near campus. Puck was nervous about the whole thing, and wasn’t sure if he wanted to hate Scott, or like him for Finn’s sake. Well, he’d try to have an open mind, either way.

Finn and Puck walked in, and Finn looked around. 

“Oh there he is!” Finn led them to a group of people, and leaned in to kiss one of them. He stepped back, and said, “Scott, this is Puck, my best friend. Puck, this is Scott.”

Puck noticed he didn’t label their relationship, but shook Scott’s hand, and said, “Good to meet you, dude.”

Scott nodded and said, “You too, man.”

Scott was thin, tall, although not as tall as Finn, with short, spiky brown hair, and an easy smile. Puck saw why Finn was attracted to him, without a doubt. 

“So Finn says you guys have a class together?”

“Yeah, we have a few together,” Scott said.

“Cool, you drum, too?” Puck asked.

“No, guitar.”

Okay, so this is awkward, Puck thought. 

“Where are you from?” Puck was trying here.

“San Diego.”

Jesus Christ. Puck hoped he talked more to Finn, because this was painful.

“Awesome. I’m gonna get a beer. Nice talking to you,” Puck said.

“Yep.”

Puck went to the bar to get a beer, and stood next to Finn. 

“So, what do you think?” Finn asked.

“Of Scott? Seems like a nice guy, not real talkative, though,” Puck said.

“Oh yeah, he was nervous to meet you. He wants you to like him.”

“Yeah, I want to like him, too,” Puck said. That was mostly the truth. If Finn didn’t want him, Puck wanted to at least like the guy he did want. Mostly. What he really wanted was for Finn to love him back, of course, but that wasn’t happening, so Puck was fucking trying to like Scott. Sort of. Fuck, he needed to try, like really try.

“Thanks, dude. You’re the best.”

Yeah, whatever. Shut up.

 

Later that night, Puck, Finn and Scott were playing darts, and Puck was waiting for Scott to start talking more. Oh, he was talking plenty to Finn, but hadn’t said much to Puck yet, and Puck had tried. Well, it was more important that Finn liked Scott than Puck did. After all, Puck managed to deal with Rachel and Quinn while they were dating Finn. He could deal with Scott.

 

At home, though, he changed his mind about that. One thing he forgot was that he didn’t live with Finn while he was dating Rachel and Quinn, and Finn wasn’t having a lot of sex with them. 

After about 10 minutes of hearing the noises coming from Finn’s room, Puck got up, grabbed his laptop and headset, a beer from the fridge, and went out on the balcony. He got comfortable in one of the old chairs, and turned some music on. With his headset, it blocked out the sounds.

He checked Facebook, and saw that the rebuild of New Directions was going well, if slowly, by Rachel and Kurt, and Blaine was still coaching the Warblers. 

What the fuck? Dave Karofsky and Blaine were in a relationship? Well, whatever. Finn was inside having sex with a guy, so the planets must be all out of alignment or some strange shit.

Mercedes was in LA, and he needed to hang out with his hot mama soon. It had been too long. She had posted about more songs she was writing, and it made him realize how much he missed her.

More wedding plans from Santana and Britt. He already had made plans to go to their wedding in February, and wouldn’t that be a party. 

He scrolled his way through his newsfeed, then checked Twitter. 

Okay, it’s been 30 minutes, maybe the noises have stopped, he thought. He took off his headset, walked inside, and heard a loud moan. Fuck, nope. Thank god it was a nice night. He grabbed a blanket from his bed, and went back on the porch. He set up two chairs so that he could prop his feet up, and got comfortable. He’d give them another 20 or 30 minutes, and check again, he thought. They’d better be done by then, ‘cause fuck, it’s 2:30 am.

 

“Puck. Puck!” Finn shook Puck’s shoulder, and Puck jolted awake.

“What? What’s going on?” Puck asked groggily.

“Dude, why are you on the porch?” Finn asked.

“Oh yeah, we need to have a chat about that. You and Scott are pretty loud.”

“Oh man, really? We can’t be that loud. Really?”

“Well, I didn’t sleep on the porch ‘cause I’m outdoorsy,” Puck said.

“Oh man, I’m sorry. I can’t believe you heard us,” Finn said.

“Yeah, well, sound travels.”

“Yeah, I know. Next time, we’ll be quieter.”

Next time. Shoot me now, Puck thought.

“Other than that, did you like him?” Finn asked.

“Sure, he seemed okay,” Puck said. Shit, try harder. “You all sure have a lot in common.” There.

“Yeah, we do. He’s really talented, too.”

“What does he want to do after he graduates? Does he want to stay here?”

“Oh you know, I don’t know. We haven’t talked about that.”

“Is he in Music Education, too?”

“I think so, but we haven’t talked about it. Our classes that we have together are the required courses for a couple of different concentrations, so I don’t really know,” Finn said. “I guess I should find out.”

“Are you wanting this to be a long term thing?” Puck asked.

“Well, yeah. I’m not really one to have casual things. You know that. That isn’t changing now that I’m dating guys.”

“So yeah, I guess you need to find out then, but don’t worry too much. You have a couple more years of college. He might, too. A lot can happen in that time.” There, that’s trying, Puck thought.

 

A few weeks passed, and Finn was staying over at Scott’s a lot. He texted Puck each time, but Puck felt like he hadn’t really spent any time with Finn. He’d listen to some loud sex if it meant he could hang out with his best friend even for a little while. He’d tell Finn that if he could just talk to him.

 

Then one random Wednesday, Puck got a call that would ultimately change the course of his pool cleaning business forever.

 

Puck had opened an office about 6 months earlier, and one of the guys patched a call through, telling Puck he needed to take the call, and that “he’d want to be professional.” 

Whatever, he was always professional.

“Noah Puckerman, can I help you?”

“Hi Noah, this is Jimmy Kimmel. I got your name from my cousin, who said you are the most reliable pool service in LA. Are you taking on more clients right now?”

Fuck yeah he is. Jimmy Kimmel?

“Uh yes, Mr. Kimmel, we are. Thanks for the nice words about our company, and I’d be happy to meet with you at your convenience.”

He set up a meeting for that Friday, and hung up the phone. He called his office back to let them know, and Mark, his tech that answered the phone, let out a big whoop.

“Jimmy Kimmel! Holy shit!”

“Right? If he likes us, and refers us, we are made. Can you make sure all the consult materials are together? And Mark, I want you with me on Friday. You’re my best motor guy. If he has questions, we need to be able to answer them.”

“Of course, yes and yes! Hot damn! Phone’s ringing, gotta go!”

“Later! Thanks, Mark!”

 

Gotta call Finn, Puck thought. Wednesday afternoon, where the fuck was he? Not class. Maybe work? Fuck it. Puck couldn’t think. Finn worked at a music store, so Puck started to head that way as he called. No answer. That’s okay, he thought. Maybe he was with a customer.

He got to the shopping plaza, parked, and hopped out of his truck. He ran into the store, and saw Andy, one of the other guys that worked there.

“Hey Andy, is Finn here today?”

“No, sorry, man. He’s off today.”

“Crap. Thanks, man. If you happen to talk to him, let him know I’m looking for him and it’s important,” Puck said.

“Will do.”

Puck got back in his truck and drove home, and called Finn again as he drove. No answer again. Fuck. What is it with Finn and his fucking phone these days? He’s not at work or in class, so why can’t he answer?

Puck got home, and Finn wasn’t there, of course. He was never there anymore. He was so pumped about Jimmy Kimmel, and wanted to tell people, but he wanted to tell Finn first. 

He sent Finn a text, telling him he had big news and needed to talk to him ASAP. He waited 30 minutes, no response. He called him, no answer. What the fuck?

So he called Santana and told her. She was excited for him, and yelled for Brittany, and told her, too, but it wasn’t the same.

 

Four hours later, at about 8 pm, Finn texts him that he’s going to be out all night, and that he got his messages, and wants to know if the big news can wait till tomorrow. 

Fuck him. Puck has tried to be happy for Finn, and has tried to be mature and not be “that guy” who gets pissy when his best friend finds love and he doesn’t see him much anymore. He has put his own feelings aside so Finn can be happy.

Fuck that. He was done now. Unless Finn was getting handed a check for a million dollars tonight, he could spare 10 minutes to call his oldest and best friend.

Puck texted Finn back and simply said, “Whenever.” Not very mature, but he didn’t care. Finn didn’t respond.

 

Finn didn’t come home on Thursday, but did text Puck to say he was staying at Scott’s. Puck and Mark worked late to make sure everything was ready for Jimmy Kimmel’s consult the following day, and Puck went home and crashed.

Puck and Mark nailed the consult, and got a signed contract from Jimmy Kimmel. Puck had a great time, and knew that if they did a good job for him, it could lead to other celebrity clients. When Puck had dreamed about his business, he hadn’t even dared to imagine this kind of referral, and now it was something that could be a reality.

In the meantime though, they had more pools to service, so they got back to it.

 

Puck went to the grocery store on the way home, picked up some pasta, jarred sauce, hamburger meat and beer. He went home and cooked, ate, and was playing video games by himself when the expected text from Finn came. He wasn’t coming home yet again.

Puck decided he wasn’t going to sit at home, and texted Mercedes to see what she was up to, and she invited him to meet up with her and some friends at a club, and he happily accepted. 

He had a great time at the club, and with Mercy and her friends. He even hooked up with a guy, and was just drunk enough to have told Mercy as he was leaving with the guy, “What is it they say? To get over someone you have to get under someone else?”

Mercy just looked at him with sad eyes, and said, “If you want to talk about it, Boo, I’m here.”

“I love you, Mercy. You know that, right?”

“Yes, and I love you, too, my drunken Boo.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry - added the same chapter twice. It's fixed.

Puck left the guy’s apartment at about 8 am. It wasn’t his first time with a guy, as that happened when he first moved to LA after graduation, and while it was really good, technically speaking, it left him feeling empty and more depressed than he’d been the night before. He wanted Finn, not some poor substitute.

He stopped at Starbucks and got a coffee and pastry, and headed home. When he pulled into the parking lot, he did a double take at seeing Finn’s truck. Finn was home?

Puck checked his phone, and the battery was dead. It must have died sometime after 3 am, when Puck checked it before falling asleep. If Finn had texted, it was after that time.

Puck unlocked the door, and walked in. Finn was asleep on the couch, but woke when he heard Puck.

“Where the hell have you been, dude? I’ve been texting,” Finn said.

“You are really going to ask me that?” Puck said. “I haven’t seen or talked to you in days, no – weeks – and you are going to yell at me for not being here the one fucking night that you decide to come home?”

“Yeah, well you didn’t text me to let me know you’d be out all night.”

“Why would I? You weren’t here. You wouldn’t know if anything had happened to me. Mercedes knew where I was.”

“You went out with Mercedes?”

“Yes, I met up with her and some of her friends last night, then hooked up with one of them.”

“Oh.”

“So why did you come home?” Puck figured there had to be a reason, and it wasn’t just because Finn missed him. He would have come home in the middle of the day for that.

“Scott and I broke up.”

Fuck. Finn was single again. Try to be a good friend, asshole, and don’t think of yourself. 

“Dude, that sucks. What happened?”

“We had the conversation about what we were doing after we graduated, and not only does he not want to stay here, he didn’t see us going anywhere. He said it was ‘fun for now’. He wasn’t a jerk about it, and it’s partly my fault for not talking about it sooner.”

“Well, I’m sorry, man. I really am.”

“Dating guys isn’t any easier than dating women. I’d hoped it would be.”

“Yeah, it never really looked like it was all that easy for Kurt,” Puck said. 

“Yeah, that’s true. Hey, are you going back for San and Britt’s wedding?”

“Yeah, we have flight tickets already. Aren’t you still going?”

“I don’t know, dude. I feel stupid now, and don’t want to see a big happy love story.”

“Dude, get over yourself. These are your friends. What happened to you? You got so wrapped up in this guy that you ignored me, ignored your other friends. When was the last time you talked to Kurt? To your mom? To anyone?”

“I don’t know, dude. It just felt so good to finally be who I am, to be able to be out. I guess I went overboard.”

“We haven’t talked about any of it. Do you want to?” Puck was curious. Had Finn been feeling the same things he had? 

“We can, if you want. Oh dude, I’m sorry. What is your big news? Tell me, and then we can talk about me if you want.”

“Oh yeah, that,” Puck grinned. “I got a huge new contract this week.”

“That’s cool, but you get contracts all the time. What’s so big about this one?”

“It’s Jimmy Kimmel’s pool.”

“Dude! Jimmy Kimmel! Have you met him? How did that happen?”

“Yes, I met him. Mark and I went to his house yesterday. His cousin is a client, and told him we were the most reliable pool company he’d ever had, so Jimmy called us on Wednesday. It was awesome, dude! He’s just like you’d think he’d be, and his wife is really nice, too.”

“Puck, I’m so sorry, dude. I should have answered your calls and texts, and been here for that. We should have gone out to celebrate.”

“Yeah, well, I called Santana, and went out with Mercy.” Puck said, kind of tensely. He figured he probably should be kinder, but whatever. He'd tried for days to get in touch with Finn.

“I should have been here.” 

“Yeah, I missed you, dude.”

Finn’s eyes filled with tears, and he grabbed Puck in a hug. 

“Love you, dude.”

“Love you, too. Now tell me about all this man love you have.”

 

Finn told Puck about how he’d started noticing an attraction for guys in high school, maybe middle school, but went into denial about it, seeing what happened to Kurt at McKinley. He realized he couldn’t deny it any longer, and LA was a lot better place to be out than Lima.

“Is that why you are considering not going to the wedding?” Puck asked.

“Yeah, but I guess now it doesn’t matter. When I first started thinking about not going, I was with Scott, and I didn’t want to have to lie. Now it doesn’t matter.”

“Well, we’re in the wedding, so we need to go. Are we good, you and me? You know you can tell me anything, right?”

“Yeah, dude, and I’m sorry, again.”

Puck felt hypocritical for not coming out to Finn, but he didn’t want to pressure him, and he didn’t mention having any feelings for Puck in his speech, so Puck didn’t say anything.

 

They flew to Lima for the wedding, and Finn was relieved he went as it turned out to be a double wedding with Britt and Santana, and Kurt and Blaine. He’d have never forgiven himself if he’d missed it. 

They flew back after a few days, and got back to work and school. 

 

Several months later, Finn and Puck were out one night with Mercedes and some of her friends when things came crashing down around Puck.

Finn, Puck and Mercy were sitting at a table in the club, trying to shout over the music, as Mercy was telling them about her progress on her album, and how she came to title it, “It’s Your World”. She still had a ways to go before it was released, and was really excited about it.

Suddenly, Puck felt a hand on his shoulder, and someone leaned in and kissed his neck. He looked up, and saw Nick, Mercy’s friend that he had hooked up with the night he signed the contract with Jimmy Kimmel, and was longing for Finn. Fuck.

“Hey you, long time,” Nick said.

“Uh hey,” Puck said.

“What the fuck, dude?” Finn said.

“Oh my god, I’m sorry,” Nick said. “I thought you were out.”

“Yeah, just not to everyone at the table,” Puck said.

“Out? You needed to come out?” Finn said. “What the hell is going on?”

“Oh Boo, Finn didn’t know?” Mercy asked.

“Mercy knew and I didn’t?” Finn asked. Finn threw his chair back and stood up, and walked out.

Fuck. Puck messed up, and he knew it. He apologized to Mercy and Nick, and ran after Finn.


	5. Chapter 5

Puck found Finn sitting in Puck’s truck, crying. Puck started the truck, and pulled out of the parking lot.

They were silent for a good five minutes, and then Puck said, “Man, I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.”

“Shut up. Just shut the fuck up. Why didn’t you come out to me when I came out to you? And how long has it been? Are you gay? Bi? What?”

“I guess it’s been as long as it’s been for you. The reasons you gave for not coming out are the same reasons I had. We all know what McKinley was like for Kurt. When I first came to LA, just after graduating, I knew for sure. I had my first experience with a guy then. I’d say I’m pansexual, if I had to choose. I haven’t really found a label I like just yet, but I really haven’t given it much thought. I don’t care about the labels so much.” Puck didn’t really address why he didn’t tell Finn, because that would mean he’d have to tell Finn that he was in love with him. Puck wasn’t up for rejection tonight.

Finn didn’t say anything else after that, and Puck left him to his thoughts. 

Finn had plenty of thoughts. So Puck was pan, or gay, or whatever, and Finn was, too, yet Puck hadn’t told him. That sucked. It hurt. And if he’d known for that long, why didn’t he ever once even try to kiss Finn? Puck thought that Finn was straight for a long time, but even after learning that wasn’t true, he hadn’t tried anything. The sex shark, who’d had sex with so many people, didn’t even find him appealing, Finn thought. What the hell is that? 

 

They arrived at their apartment, and Puck unlocked the door silently. When they entered, Finn walked to the kitchen, grabbed two beers, and handed one to Puck.

“Thanks, man,” Puck said. “Are you going to talk to me?”

“Uh yeah, ‘cause I still don’t get it. Why didn’t you just tell me? Even if you hadn’t before, why didn’t you tell me when I came out to you?”

Here’s your moment, Puck thought. Don’t blow it. He went to the ugly couch in the living room and sat down at one end of it. Finn followed and sat on the other end of it.

“Okay, so back in the day, when I was first with guys, I didn’t tell anyone. I didn’t know how. I didn’t know if I’d end up with a woman, and those were just hook-ups, and if they were, no harm, no foul. No one ever needed to know. I went back to Lima, and knew I wasn’t going to do anything there, so I still didn’t tell you, or anyone.

When you came out, things had changed. I had realized some things, and you were so happy with Scott, and I didn’t want to take anything away from that. That was your moment, not mine.”

“How did Mercedes know?”

“She only knew because of that night we went out and I hooked up with Nick. I swear, I never actually told her, or came out officially to her. I haven’t actually come out officially to anyone. Tonight is the first time I’ve ever actually said the words.”

“Oh wow.”

“Yeah, so actually, you are the first person I’ve officially come out to, though I know it feels like you’re the last to know. I’m sorry, dude. I never meant for you to find out this way.”

“Am I the last to know?”

“What? No. You, Mercy and the guys I’ve hooked up with know. That’s it. My mom and sister don’t even know.”

“Wait, you said something about realizing things. Was that realizing that you were definitely pan or whatever, or was that something else?” Finn asked.

Well, fuck. Here goes nothing, Puck thought.

“Yeah, that. By then, I’d realized that I’m in love with you, and have been probably for most of my life.”

Finn spit his beer out, spraying it all over the couch and all over Puck.

“Dude, what?” Finn asked, as he got up to get towels to clean up his beer spray. 

“You heard me.”

Finn wiped off the couch, and handed a towel to Puck, who wiped his face, arms and shirt. 

“You’re in love with me?”

“Yes. What part of this are you having trouble understanding?” Puck knew he sounded like an ass, but he couldn’t get a read on Finn’s reaction, and it made him feel defensive. Okay, it made him feel vulnerable, but he liked defensive better.

“I guess I don’t understand any of it. Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“When would I have told you? When I thought you were straight, or when you were busy fucking Scott? Oh, maybe I should have told you after you and Scott broke up, and you were out, and you never once indicated that you were at all attracted to me.”

“Why would I tell you that? I thought you were straight.”

Oh. Point to Finn. 

Wait.

“So you’re attracted to me?” Puck asked.

Finn laughed. “Dude, you are not that stupid. Besides everyone being attracted to you, you’re my best friend. You’re awesome. You’re smart, you’re making your company into something really big, you’re funny, and you’ve always been there for me.”

“Uh, that sounds like more than attraction. Am I misreading something here?” 

“Dude, no. I love you, too. I can’t remember not loving you.”

Finn pulled Puck into him, and kissed him for the first time. After a few minutes, they were lying on the ugly couch, and Finn stopped Puck with an “Ouch! Fuck, that hurt!”

“What? What did I do?” Puck look dazed, but concerned.

“Nothing, but I felt a spring digging into my back. We need a new couch.”

“What? You don’t like the brown corduroy with pink flowers and springs digging into you? I’m surprised. We do have beds, though. Two really big beds.”

“We should definitely go to one of the really big beds. You have supplies?”

“I do. My room, then?”

“Yep, your room.”

 

Puck woke first the next morning, and for a moment, forgot what happened the night before. He then realized it was Finn who had his arm thrown over him, and whose legs were intertwined with his own. He smiled, happier than he’d been in a long time, and burrowed, snuggling closer to Finn, and pulling Finn’s arm closer and tighter around his chest.

Finn shifted a little, and just said, “Mmmmm”, and then kissed Puck’s shoulder.

“Love you, Puck.”

“Love you, too.”

Puck rolled over and kissed Finn, and he decided mornings were going to be a lot better from now on.

 

They got up a little while later, and ate breakfast. Finn was quiet, and Puck asked him what was going through his head.

“Well, is this for real? Like is it a relationship?”

“Well, I hope it is. You’re the first, and well, really the only, person I’ve ever been in love with. I thought after last night that we were boyfriends.”

“I’m the only person you’ve been in love with? What about Quinn?”

“I love Quinn, but we weren’t ever in love. She will always be special to me, since she’s Beth’s mother, but while we loved each other, we weren’t ever in love.”

“Dude.”

“I know. I know you and Rachel were in love, and that’s okay. I’m okay with not being your first love. I know you’ve loved before. I don’t need to play in the ‘who did Finn love more’ or first, or whatever, game. You love me now. That’s what matters to me. Your relationship with Rachel was important, and yet takes nothing away from this relationship.”

“I know you said it doesn’t matter, but you should know that I loved you then, too. I’ve always loved you. I was trying to denying it, but I did love you then.”

Puck leaned across their small table and kissed Finn. “I know. So you’re good? This is real, and important. I’m not in it just for fun, Finn. This is what I’ve wanted for a long, long time. I love you, and consider you my boyfriend.”

“Yeah, I’m so good. I love you, too, and you’re my boyfriend.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For more on Mercedes and Cooper on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, see their story, [I Found You](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6096655/chapters/13974901).

The time passed by quickly, as it always seems to. 

Finn graduated and Kurt, Blaine, Carole and Burt came for the ceremony. Puck was so proud of Finn. He’d worked so hard, and finished, accomplishing his goal. Finn had already secured a job teaching music and coaching a really good glee club, and couldn’t wait to start. 

They found a small house to rent, and they realized that if anything challenges a relationship, it’s moving, and maybe worse, buying furniture. Even worse than those, assembling furniture.

“Fuck this. I don’t care how much we saved, next time, we are paying the fees to have it delivered already assembled,” Puck said.

“Are you kidding, dude? I don’t even like this entertainment center, and I’m trying to figure out why these stupid instructions say I should have 16 of these screws, but I only have 12,” Finn whined.

“Let me see. Dude, those are the 1 inch screws. You want the ¾ inch ones. I have those over here.”

“Well, give them to me. I have these fucking fastener things in, and need the right screws,” Finn said, as he adjusted one of the fasteners. “Fuck, I don’t think this is in right. Who created these things? They suck, and so not in the good way.”

“Really funny, dude. Remind me to laugh hilariously later.”

Four hours later, they stand the unit up, and position it against the wall, and step back to enjoy their accomplishment.

“Dude,” Finn said through a clenched jaw. “The doors are on upside down.” 

“What? How do you know?”

“That design that I hate? It’s supposed to be at the top of the door, not the bottom. How did you manage that?” 

“Fuck if I know. Do you want to fix it? We’ll have to take the sides off, too,” Puck said, hoping that Finn would see the humor in this, or something, and not want him to take the thing apart.

“Hell no, I don’t want to fix it. It was ugly before, and it’s only slightly uglier now. I’ll get used to it. Damn, you’re lucky I love you,” Finn said, stalking off to the kitchen to get a beer.

Yeah, Puck thought, I really am.

 

Jimmy Kimmel changed Puck’s life again. Well, Jimmy and Mercedes did. Mercedes went on the Jimmy Kimmel show to promote her third album, Choices, and coincidentally, was on with Cooper Anderson. Jimmy had found out that they were both from Lima, and really played that connection up, as well as how many famous people there were from Lima, and from Mercy’s glee club. 

Finn and Puck received a text from Mercy, telling them to watch Jimmy’s show that night, and she said that Puck especially really needed to watch it. 

“Finn, did you get this text from Mercy? What the hell?”

“No idea, but we should watch, I guess.”

When the show came on, they sat through the first part of it, listening to Mercy talk about her album, and a few guest spots that she was doing. 

“This is cool for Mercy, but why are we specifically watching this?” Finn asked during the commercial.

“No idea. Maybe something happens later,” Puck said.

After the commercial, Cooper Anderson was on, talking about the upcoming season of his spy show, Drones. 

“Dude, remember him? He taught that master class in pointing for us,” Puck said.

“Yeah, Blaine’s brother. What a tool.”

“Have you watched his show?” Puck asked.

“No, I figured if he was in it, it must be bad.”

“I haven’t either, but that clip looked pretty good. Maybe we’ll have to check it out.”

“Ahh Mercy is back. Let’s see what happens,” Finn said.

“She really does look hot, doesn’t she?” Puck asked.

“She does, but let’s listen, huh?” Finn pouted.

“Well, Mercedes is friends with a bunch of successful people from Lima. I think her entire glee club is famous, or damn near close,” Cooper was saying.

“Oh really? Mercedes, who did you sing with that we may know?” Jimmy asked.

“Cooper, I’m going to hurt you, or Blaine will. Well, there’s Blaine Anderson-Hummel, for starters…” Mercy replied.

“Wait – he’s from Lima? He and his husband, Kurt were on one of our New York shows,” Jimmy said.

Cooper laughed. “Yes, Blaine is my brother.”

“Kurt is going to flip that Jimmy Kimmel remembers him!” Finn said. “I hope he watched it!”

Finn and Puck watched as Mercy mentioned Rachel and Jesse, Santana, Artie and Tina, and Jimmy was amazed at how many people he knew or recognized came from McKinley. 

Holy crap, he showed a [clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4pzxlbeaqI) from Nationals in Chicago. Finn and Puck were just shown on the Jimmy Kimmel show!

“What the hell, dude? Did you see that? They showed us!” Finn yelled.

“No wonder she texted us! This is a trip!”

 

“Wait, rewind that. We missed something,” Finn said, suddenly quiet and serious.

Puck rewound it to the end of the clip, then pressed play.

“Did I see a guy named Noah Puckerman in there?” Jimmy asked.

“Yes, we graduated together. You know him?” Mercy answered him, smiling.

“He cleans my pool! He runs the best pool cleaning service I’ve ever had. What IS it with this glee club?”

Puck paused the show.

“Holy fuck.”

“Dude. Did he just plug your company on his show?”

“Holy fuck, he did. Oh my god. Oh my god.”

Puck’s phone started buzzing with texts. He looked at them, and saw that most of them were from his employees. He grinned. This changed everything, and they all knew it.

“Okay, press play. Let’s see the rest of it,” Puck said.

They returned to Mercy answering Jimmy’s question about the talent in the glee club.

“I don’t know. We just work hard.”

“Sure, whatever. That’s it. Nothing to do with talent,” Jimmy laughed. “What’s the name of your teacher?”

“Well, it was Mr. William Schuester, but he is the principal now, and it’s a school for the performing arts. Sam Evans leads it now.”

“Let me guess. Sam was in it, too,” Jimmy said.

“Yes, and we have another former member, Finn Hudson, who leads a National Championship glee club here in LA.”

Puck grabbed the remote and paused it, and looked at Finn. Finn was smiling with that half-smile, and he said, “Dude, she just said I was a National Champion glee club coach on Jimmy Kimmel. Jimmy Kimmel knows I’m alive.”

“Yeah, he does, and he should. Tomorrow is gonna be a hell of a day for both of us, I guess. Play?”

“Yep.”

They watched Mercy sing, and then Jimmy closed the show, and Puck thought his head might literally fall off.

“Thanks to Mercedes Jones, Cooper Anderson and apparently, The New Directions of Lima, Ohio. Oh, and since five people have come up to me asking, the pool company is Puckerman Pool Service, but it’s only in California. Puck, get ready, man. Have a great night, everyone!” Jimmy yelled over the cheering of his audience.

“HOLY FUCK! Holy fuck holy fuck holy fuck!” Puck stood up and started jumping around the room, grabbing Finn with him.

“Dude, your business is gonna explode tomorrow!”

“Let me check the website.” He went to the site, and it wouldn’t load due to high traffic. “Fuck, I need to get the IT guy on this. Can you call him for me? I need to call Mercy.”

“Sure.”

 

He dialed Mercy’s number, and waited for her to pick up.

“Oh my god, Mercedes, what the hell? You got Jimmy Kimmel to mention my name, my company’s name and the fact that he’s a happy client on his show! My website just crashed due to the traffic, and I am so fucking happy! I love you, baby!” 

Puck paused as he heard a lot of noise outside.

“Holy crap, what is that? Finn?”

Finn opened the blinds, and showed Puck their driveway. There were three news vans parked in front of their house, and several photographers, reporters and camera people standing in their driveway.

“Oh my god, there are reporters outside my house. What the fuck is this? Well, I’ll let them take some pics of the van, and then they are going to have to go fuck off. Mercy, my love, you were fantastic! You sang your gorgeous ass off.”

“Thanks, Puck. I didn’t do a thing but talk about Lima. He recognized you from the video and did it all himself. It happened because you are kick ass at what you do, and you know it,” Mercy said.

Finn opened the front door, and started yelling at the reporters to get off their property. They weren’t moving, and were yelling questions back.

“How long have you known Mercedes Jones? Is it true that she and Cooper Anderson are dating? What is it like having famous friends? Finn, is it true that you and Kurt Hummel-Anderson are brothers?”

“What the fuck? What the hell kinds of questions are these?” Finn asked. “Puck, these assholes think Mercy and Cooper are dating.

“Crap, I have to go,” Puck told Mercedes. “Finn is yelling at reporters. Oh they are asking him if you and Cooper are dating. Are you?”

“What? No, tonight was the first time I’d seen him since, well, I don’t even remember when,” Mercy said.

“Awesome, I’ll set them straight on that. Mercy dating a married man, my ass. Love you!” 

They ended the call, and Puck went out to deal with the reporters. He didn’t step off his porch, but said what he needed to say.

“What kind of shit is this? Get off our property. Take photos of the van, print those and the name of the business if you want, but nothing else. There is no story here. Yes, we went to school with Mercedes Jones and some others. That isn’t news. The same was true yesterday, only you assholes didn’t know it. And about Mercedes and Cooper? No story there, either. Cooper is married, and I won’t even dignify that shit question from you. It’s stupid.”

“What about you, Finn? Any comment on Mercedes and Cooper? Are you and Kurt brothers?”

“Oh fuck off, Mercy wouldn’t date a married man, and barely knows Cooper. They are NOT DATING! And yes, Kurt and I are brothers. Again, NOT NEWS.” He looked at Puck. “Jesus, they are stupid. Do they think anyone will care that Kurt and I are brothers?”

Puck laughed and turned to lead Finn back in the house. He stopped, then said, “Oh you idiots have 30 seconds to get off our property, or I’m calling the police. This is a secure community, and you all aren’t even supposed to be here. Get out. You have 20 seconds left.”

Surprisingly, they left, but the next day brought chaos, some good, some bad.


	7. Chapter 7

Finn had a bunch of kids wanting to join the glee club, as they thought that if it was good enough for Mercedes Jones, it was good enough for them, and if Finn was friends with her, well, even better.

Puck’s phones were insanely busy, and his IT guy had to keep beefing up the site to handle the traffic. The company’s Facebook page suddenly gained twenty thousand likes, and they were getting requests for services from as far away as San Diego and San Francisco. 

He called Mercy, and left a message, thanking her again, and letting her know that she had helped both Finn and him immensely.

One of his employees showed him the tabloid site where he and Finn were quoted about Mercy and Cooper, and fuck if they hadn’t twisted the context to make it sound bad. He called Mercy for the second time that morning, and apologized for it, offering to kick some ass if needed.

Shelby called, letting him know that she had talked to Rachel, who told her all about the show. She found the clip online, and showed Beth. Beth was pretty used to famous people by now, but hearing her dad’s name on TV was pretty exciting, even for her. They talked for a bit, and Puck promised to call Beth later on, after he was done with work. It was time to plan another visit, as they had been doing a couple of times a year, even when Nationals were New York and Puck went with Finn. 

He got through the day, and decided by the end of it that he needed to open a location in southern California, based on the requests they were getting. In the meantime, he was sending a couple of his best guys down to start getting contracts signed, and get things started there.

What a trip, he thought. He needed to thank Jimmy Kimmel. He called the number they had on file, and got voice mail.

“Hi Mr. Kimmel, this is Noah Puckerman, of Puckerman Pool Services. I just wanted to thank you for the awesome mention on your show last night with Mercedes. You didn’t have to do that, and I really appreciate it. A referral like yours means so much, and it’s already increasing my business tremendously. You weren’t kidding when you told me to get ready. Thanks again!”

 

When he got home, Finn was sprawled on the couch, playing a video game.

“How was your day?” Puck asked.

“Fuck, it was crazy, but I’d guess no where near as crazy as yours.”

“Yeah, it was insane. I’ve already sent three guys down to San Diego to start a branch there. I’ll have to go next week, to look for office space, a manager, a supplier, and all that shit.”

“Wow, expanding already.”

“Yeah, well, we had dozens of calls from people there today, so we can justify it. Mark and the others will be getting clients signed before I even get there.”

“You’re a chain, dude.”

“Fuck yeah I am.”

“Did you talk to Mercy?”

“No, but I left her a couple of voice mails. I hope we didn’t make things worse.” 

“Nah, I doubt it. They’ll move on soon enough, as soon as the next fake news item comes along,” Finn said.

 

Over the next couple of years, Puck opened his branch in San Diego, and others in Palm Springs, Santa Barbara and Bakersfield. The branches were all successful, and Puck was now acting mostly as a CEO, and didn’t often clean pools anymore. He’d decided to take some business management classes, and those were helping him manage his quickly expanding business.

Finn won another Nationals, and took second to Sam and The New Directions in another. 

They were still in touch with most of their friends, oddly with the exception of Mercedes. Shortly after the Kimmel show, she'd stopped responding to texts and calls, and no one really knew why. 

Everyone knew she had written the song for George Clooney’s movie, and Rachel, Jesse, Artie and Tina had seen her at the Oscars, but Mercy mostly blew them off. Puck felt bad. Mercy had done a lot for him, and whatever was happening with her, he’d have helped her with it.

 

Finn and Puck’s relationship was easy. Finn figured it was because they'd known each other for just about ever. They rarely fought, and if they did, it was short-lived, and usually over something stupid. Making up was easy, and usually fun, Puck liked to say.

 

Their friends kept asking when they were getting married, and Puck’s answer was always the same: “Why fix what ain’t broken?” He knew Finn would probably like to be married, but Puck usually didn’t have any great desire for it. He didn’t have a great example of it growing up, and though Finn had Carole and Burt, Puck figured they were a rarity, not the norm.

But Puck started thinking. They’d attended Rachel and Jesse’s wedding, and then David and Sebastian’s, and then even Puck started wondering why they weren’t married. They knew a lot of truly happy couples. They could do it, so why not he and Finn? 

If Jesse and Rachel, the two biggest drama queens, could make a marriage work, anyone could. 

He called Sam. Sam’s parents were still married. Sam wasn’t jaded about it, and wasn’t bitter about the entire institution. He’d offer good advice, Puck knew.

“Listen, man. You know that I’m pretty traditional for myself. I’m all about freedom of choice for others, but for me, I want marriage. I like the permanency it represents, or it should represent. I like the union, the stability, the family unit. I know you didn’t have a lot of that growing up, but you and Finn have a lot of that now. What’s stopping you from taking the next step?”

“Right, we do have a lot of that now, so why do we need a piece of paper telling us we have it?” Puck said.

“Well, maybe you don’t, but that piece of paper means you stood in front of your friends and family, and declared your love for each other, and promised to love each other until the day you die. It’s an deeper level of commitment. What are you so afraid of? He loves you.”

“What if I suck at marriage? I don’t know anything about being a good husband. My father was never around, and when he was, he was an asshole. I’m going to totally suck at this.”

“Dude, you won’t. You don’t want to, so you won’t. There are books and websites devoted entirely to having a good marriage and being a better husband. There’s therapy. You can call me, or Burt, or even my dad. Hell, you can call Will.”

“I am not calling Will,” Puck laughed, “but thanks, really. I appreciate it.”

“Let me know when you’re proposing. I’ll help in any way I can.”

“Who said I was? I haven’t made any decisions yet,” Puck said, pouting.

“Oh yeah, you have. You may not know it yet, but you’ll be proposing.”

Shit. Sam was right, of course.

 

Puck knew he was the one with the hesitations, so it would be up to him to ask.

He went to a jeweler, and picked out some rings, one for Finn, and a matching one for himself. 

Now, how the fuck to propose, he thought. He thought about it for days, and then got a call one morning that stopped time.

 

“Noah? It’s about mom. You need to come.”

He called Finn, and gave him the news.

“Sarah called. My mom had a heart attack. They don’t think she’ll make it. We need to get there.”

“Of course, I’m on my way. I love you.”


	8. Chapter 8

Puck and Finn arrived in Lima late that night. They went straight from the airport in Columbus to the hospital, and found Puck’s mom, Ruth, in the ICU. Sarah, Puck’s sister, was there, with her boyfriend, along with Jake and his mom. 

“She hasn’t regained consciousness since it happened, and she’s on a ventilator. We’ve never talked about what measures to take, but she has a DNR. We wanted to wait for you, though.”

“DNR?” Puck asked.

“Do Not Resuscitate. No heroic measures are to be taken to sustain her life,” Sarah explained.

Well fuck, that made it real, Puck thought.

Puck and Finn went into Ruth’s room, and Puck took her hand.

“I’m here, Mom. I’m here now. Finn and I are here. I love you, Mom.”

Puck’s eyes filled with tears, and he looked at Finn. “We should have come back more. A couple of times a year wasn’t enough.”

“Noah, don’t do that. She knew your life is in LA, and that you were happy there. She only just wanted you to be happy. She knew you’d never be able to be happy in Lima. She always knew you loved her,” Sarah said.

“Knew? Past tense already?” Puck asked.

“Well, the doctors figured she was waiting on you to get here, and you’re here now, so…” Sarah couldn’t finish the sentence, and broke down.

There was no pretense that Ruth had been a perfect mother, but Puck had long since made peace with her. He knew that she had done the best she could, given her circumstances, and he was grateful to her. She had accepted him unconditionally when he came out to her, saying that she loved him no matter what.

A lot of people had it far worse. He was going to miss her, and he knew it.

“Mom, it’s Noah. I don’t know if you can hear me, but I’m here. We’re all here. Finn is here with me, too, and Max is here with Sarah. If you need to let go, it’s okay. We are going to be okay. Sarah and I will take care of each other, and Finn and Max will help.”

“Mom, Noah’s right. We love you, and we’ll be okay.” Sarah was holding one of Ruth’s hands, and Puck was holding the other. They were crying, and reached out to hold each other’s hands across her small body. They heard Ruth gasp, then the machines started beeping.

Nurses and a doctor ran in, and a doctor asked Sarah, “What did you all decide?”

Sarah looked at Puck. “Any heroic measures?”

“No, she wouldn’t have wanted them. Do you agree?”

“Absolutely.” Sarah looked at the doctor, and said, “We are honoring her DNR. Whatever it says there, please follow.”

“Then it’s time. Her heart has stopped. I’ll let you have some time.”

The nurse turned off the machines, and left quietly.

Sarah said, “I said my goodbyes earlier. I’ll let you have time alone.” She gave Ruth a kiss on her cheek, told her she loved her, then gave Puck a hug and left the room with Max.

 

Finn quietly asked, “Do you want me to leave? I will if you want, but if you want me here, I’ll stay. Just tell me what you need.”

“Please stay,” Puck whispered.

Finn stayed, and stood behind Puck while Puck sat next to the bed. He whispered “I love you” every few minutes, but his goodbyes to his mother were mostly communicated silently. 

After a little while had passed, he stood, and hugged Finn. “I’m ready.”

Finn touched Ruth’s hand, and said, “Goodbye Ruth. You were always good to me, from the time we were kids until you accepted me as a partner for Noah. I’ll take care of him, I promise. I love you, and you’ll be missed.”

He took Puck’s hand, and they walked out of the room. He hugged Sarah, then saw Coach Bieste.

“I called Coach Bieste,” Jake said quietly. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“No, I don’t mind. Fuck, thanks, man.”

Puck went over and went right into Sheldon’s arms. Their relationship hadn’t changed at all when Sheldon transitioned from female to male, and Puck still looked at Coach as a parental figure. 

“Thanks for coming, Coach,” Puck said as he cried.

“Oh, Puck, you know I wouldn’t be anywhere else,” he said. After McKinley changed to an arts school, North Lima High was smart and hired Coach Bieste as their football coach, so he was still in the area.

 

After a couple of minutes, Puck pulled back, and said, “Fuck, what do we do now?”

“I’ve already called the Rabbi, and the funeral home will be here shortly. The morgue here will deal with the funeral home to move her. The Rabbi wants to meet us at the house in the morning.”

“Okay, we’ll be there. Finn and I are staying at his house, but we’ll be there by 9. Is that okay?”

“Yes, so we’ll see you then.”

They all left, and Finn and Puck got in their rental car, and tried to find food. They often forgot that Lima wasn’t LA, and most things weren’t open late, but did find a McDonald’s that was open 24 hours, so they headed in that direction. It was 2:30 am ET, but only 11:30 pm for them, and with everything that happened, it all felt surreal.

They got a bunch of food, and some things they could re-heat for breakfast, and went back to Finn’s house, or rather, Burt and Carole’s house. 

They let themselves into the darkened house, and turned on some lights. They dumped their bags by the door, and headed straight to the kitchen to eat.

As they were eating, Finn said, “Doing okay, babe?”

“I don’t know. I think I’m numb, mostly. I don’t think anything has sunk in yet.”

“No, that makes sense. Just let me know what you need me to do, okay?”

“Just do what you’re doing. I love you, babe.”

“I love you, too. So much.”

After eating, and putting their breakfast in the fridge, they went upstairs, and stripped off their clothes, and fell into bed, with Finn holding Puck close to him. Finally, all the events of the day had caught up with them, and they fell into an exhausted, deep sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

In a few short hours, the alarm on Puck’s phone blared, and though he was tempted to turn it off, and curl into Finn to sleep for a few more hours, or days, he got up.

“Finn, we gotta get up, dude. It’s 8.”

“Fuck, babe.”

“I know. Gotta meet the rabbi in an hour.”

Finn sat straight up. “Shit, I’m sorry, I forgot.”

“It’s okay. I had about five seconds where I forgot, too.”

They got in the shower together, more for comfort than anything sexual, dressed, made coffee, and ate re-heated sausage and egg McMuffins and hash browns. They left just in time to make it to Puck’s old house by 9.

 

On the way over, Puck checked his phone, and saw texts from most of their friends. 

“Did you tell Kurt?” 

“Yeah, why?”

“Oh, that’s how everyone knows. Everyone has sent me texts.”

“Sorry, was that not okay?”

“No, I appreciate it. I’d rather not have to tell people. Oh, we should call Sam.”

“I’ll text him, tell him to come over after school, if that’s okay.”

“Sure, but I’m not up for seeing Schue, so stress that point.”

“Will do.”

 

They got to the house, and walked in. Puck hugged Sarah, and the two started crying again. 

“How are you? Rough night?” Puck asked.

“Yeah, kinda. You?”

“I’m okay, but by the time we got food and went to bed, we were just exhausted, and slept. We just haven’t slept enough.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Sarah said. “The Rabbi is going to be here at 10, but we need to talk about some things first.”

“Okay, but coffee?”

“In the kitchen, freshly made.”

“I’ll get it,” Finn said.

 

They discussed finances, the house (which Sarah and Max wanted to live in while they finished college, and then would sell, probably), and what to do with Ruth’s belongings. 

The Rabbi came, and said some prayers, and they planned the funeral. It would be held the following day, following Jewish tradition, but he revealed that he and Ruth had spoken on multiple occasions, and Ruth didn’t want anyone to sit shiva for her. Puck knew his mom was an odd mix of devout and non-traditional, but he’d thought for sure she’d have wanted them to follow the custom of the seven-day mourning period and receiving guests into the home.

“What? Why not?” Puck asked.

“She sat shiva for her grandfather, and found it to be awful. It didn’t bring the comfort it was meant to, and she didn’t want to burden all of you with it. She was quite adamant, or I’d be advocating for it.”

“That actually makes sense to me,” Sarah said. “She never wanted to be a burden to anyone.”

“Okay, so we honor that,” Puck said.

They discussed the rest of the funeral arrangements, and would be going to the funeral home later.

They got through the day, and the arrangements, and headed back to Puck’s old house.

 

About 4:30, Sam showed up. He hugged Puck, and passed on Mr. Schue’s condolences. “He’ll be at the funeral, but said he understood that you’d be overwhelmed right now.”

Visitors started arriving, and bringing food. Jake came and stayed for a while, as did Coach Bieste. Puck started getting overwhelmed, and walked out back. He sat on the stoop, and Sam came out after a few minutes.

“You okay, dude?”

“Yeah, I guess, as much as can be expected, anyway. It’s just a lot of people and having to make small talk and whatnot. Most of these people never took the time to talk to Mom when she was alive.”

“I know, but that’s how it happens, man. It’s usually not that people are mean, they just get wrapped up in their own day to day shit. Then someone dies, and they make casseroles. It’s just how it works,” he laughed.

“Yeah, I know, and I know it makes people feel better. I just hate it.”

“I know. How are things with you and Finn?” Sam asked.

“Great, really. Oh hey, can I ask you something? I need a favor.”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“I’m going to ask him to marry me, and I may finally have a plan. Can you help?”

“Of course. Name it.”

 

They arrived at the funeral the following day, and to Puck’s surprise, Rachel, Kurt, Blaine, Santana, Brittany and Dave Karofsky all came in for it. 

“Wow, thanks you guys, really. It means so much to have you here.” Puck tried to not cry, ‘cause god, he was tired of crying, but he was emotionally spent, and cried anyway.

“We love you, and couldn’t imagine not being here for this,” Rachel said. “Jesse couldn’t get away, but he said he was very sorry for your loss.”

“Same with Sebastian,” Dave said.

“Tell them thanks. How long are you staying?”

“We’re here through the weekend,” Dave said.

“Thanks, that’s really awesome.”

“What’s really awesome?" a familiar voice asked.

Puck looked up and saw Quinn, and he just broke. He pulled her into a hug, crying.

“Seriously, I can’t believe you all came. It means so much.”

“Thanks, everyone,” Sarah said as she came into the room. “It means a lot to both of us.”

Finn, who had been handling some details with the Rabbi, walked in, and saw everyone. He started crying, too.

“Holy crap, you guys. This is awesome.”

“We really wouldn’t be anywhere else. We’re family,” Quinn said.

 

They got through the service, and Puck and Sarah both spoke, and then they went to the cemetery, which was heart wrenching for Puck and Sarah.

After, they went back to Ruth’s house. They’d have a few hours of being with others, but then it could just be their friends again.

“Fuck, funerals are exhausting,” Puck said, leaning heavily onto Finn as they stood in the kitchen.

“They really are. Hey, have you seen Carole?”

“No, she’s here? I need to find her.”

“Yeah, she’s only here for a couple of days, but she’s around here somewhere.”

Puck went into the living room, and found Carole sitting on the couch, talking with Santana’s mother, Santana and Britt.

“Carole.” That’s all he could say, or he’d break again.

“Come here, sweetie.” Carole moved over as Puck sat, and she enveloped him in her arms, and rocked him a little. “I know, I know,” she murmured as Puck started crying again. “Burt is so sorry he couldn’t be here, but he sends his condolences.”

“Thanks so much for coming. Really. I love you,” Puck said into her neck as he hugged her.

“We love you, too, and if you need anything, you let us know, okay?”

“Yeah, I will, but I need to fill you in on something. Can we go somewhere private?”

“Of course, sweetie.”

“I’m going to propose,” he whispered, as he led her outside.

“Oh sweetie, that makes me so happy,” she said.


	10. Chapter 10

Two days later, on Friday afternoon, Puck asked Finn if he wanted to go to McKinley for a visit. 

“Sure. Let’s go see what they’ve done to the place. Is Sam gonna be there?”

“Yeah, he’s keeping the doors open for us.”

“Cool.”

 

They walked into the front doors, and Puck suggested they check out the auditorium first.

“Sure, babe.”

Finn pushed the door open, and said, “Hey Sam, what’s up?”

Sam was on stage, setting up a guitar and a stool. 

“Oh hey guys, just setting something up. I’ve got something to finish, and I’ll catch you all later. Take your time.”

“Sure, dude, thanks,” Puck said.

Sam left, and Puck went on stage and picked up the guitar.

“Wow, it’s been awhile since I’ve played. Let’s see how this goes.”

 

He started playing, and sang, 

“Ooh, you make me live  
Whatever this world can give to me  
It's you, you're all I see  
Ooh, you make me live now honey  
Ooh, you make me live…”

Finn smiled and said, “Oh this is one of our songs.”

Puck just smiled, and continued playing.

“You're the first one  
When things turn out bad  
You know I'll never be lonely  
You're my only one  
And I love the things  
I really love the things that you do  
You're my best friend

Ooh, you make me live.”

 

Puck, who has spent the better part of the week crying, felt his eyes fill again. He just wanted to finish the song, dammit.

He got through it, and looked at Finn, who was also crying. Puck put the guitar down, and called for Finn to come up on stage.

“Finn, you know I love you, and I’m going to love you forever. You’ve been my best friend since first grade, and now you’re the love of my life. I can’t imagine spending my life with anyone but you.”

He got down on one knee, opened a small box he’d pulled from his pocket, and asked, “Finn Hudson, will you do me the honor of becoming my husband? Will you marry me?”

Finn said, “Yes, yes of course I will. I love you,” through his tears, and pulled Puck up and hugged and kissed him.

Puck slipped one of the rings onto Finn’s ring finger on his left hand, and smiled.

“Is the other one for you?” Finn asked.

“Yes, if it’s okay with you that we have matching rings.”

“I love that, babe,” Finn said, and slipped the other ring on Puck’s finger. “I love you so much. I can’t believe you did this.”

“Well, I know I said don’t fix what ain’t broken, but then I started thinking, why not strengthen what really works? Because babe, we really work. Before you ask, I’ve wanted to do this for a bit, and couldn’t figure out how. Since we were in Lima, I thought doing it here, where we really started, at least as far as us realizing we were in love with each other, would be great. I know it’s odd doing it now, just a few days after my mom’s funeral, but she’d have wanted me to be happy over mourning.”

“Yeah, we really do work, and you’re right. She would have wanted that.”

“Come on, let’s go to the choir room.”

“Can we just take a minute? I just want to remember this moment. This is one of our special moments.”

They stood together, holding hands, for just a moment, while Finn soaked in the details and committed them to memory, then they kissed. “Okay, we can go now,” Finn said.

 

They walked down the hall, holding hands, taking in the sights of their old school, and how it had changed. Both Finn and Puck were stealing glances at their left ring fingers, and when Puck caught Finn doing it, he asked, “You happy? Any second thoughts?”

“Hell no, babe. I’m gonna get to marry you. I get to marry you,” Finn said with awe in his voice. He leaned into Puck, and they shared a deep, tender kiss. 

“You have no idea how many times I’ve wanted to do that in these hallways, babe,” Puck whispered.

“Yeah, I think I might,” Finn whispered back.

 

When they opened the door to the choir room, Finn was startled to hear, “CONGRATULATIONS!” shouted at them. They saw all their friends, and Sarah, Max, Carole and Burt, and Coach Bieste.

“What? Mom? Burt! What is everyone doing here?” Finn asked.

“Well, Sam livestreamed it for us, so we just saw you all get engaged, and now you have a copy, too,” Burt said, with a hug for Finn.

“Thanks for coming, everyone,” Puck said. “Thanks for coming in just for this, Burt.”

“Kid, I’m sorry I couldn’t get here earlier this week, but I had a vote I couldn’t miss. I’m so sorry about your mom. Ruth was a good lady.”

“Thanks,” Puck said, and Burt hugged him.

“If you need anything, let us know, okay?”

“We will.”

 

They stayed for a while longer, and were happy to be with their friends, then decided to go to Breadstix for dinner. After dinner, Finn and Puck plead exhaustion, which was actually true, and went home, promising to see everyone again before they left on Sunday.

When they got back to Burt and Carole’s, they found a note.

 

“Hey guys,

Congrats on your engagement! We are staying at the Holiday Inn and will be flying back first thing in the morning, so don’t worry about us. We are so happy for you, and love you both. Call us soon.

Carole and Burt”

 

“So we are actually alone?” Puck said.

“Yes, Kurt and Blaine are still out. We are alone.”

“Happy engagement, fiancé. I love you.”

“Happy engagement, fiancé. I love you. Let’s go upstairs and celebrate.”

“You know, I used to fantasize about being with you in your room.”

“Yeah? Why don’t you tell me about that? I can make that come true, babe,” Finn said with a laugh as they walked up the stairs.


	11. Chapter 11

They saw their friends again on Saturday for dinner, and then everyone left on Sunday. They were all ready to get back to their lives, but it was bittersweet for Puck. It was a final goodbye, in a way. It was the last time he’d go to Lima expecting to see his mom.

As they said goodbye to Kurt and Blaine, Kurt said, “I’m getting really handy planning these weddings. Let me know if you need help.”

“Oh, we will. What do we know about weddings?” Finn said.

“That’s why I’m here. I can help. I love you guys.”

“Love you, too, little brother,” Finn said, giving him a hug.

“Love you, Kurt. Thank you for coming. It meant a lot. Both of you. Thanks so much,” Puck said, hugging Kurt, then Blaine.

 

They arrived in LA that night, and unpacked, and sat on the couch, not ready to do much of anything. Puck was happy, yet grieving, and was numb in between. Tomorrow, he had to go back to work, or at least check in. He knew he had to, but wasn’t ready.

Finn had to go back to school, and he wasn’t ready, either. What a roller coaster week they’d had. 

 

They got through the first day back, and the next several days, then weeks. Talk turned to their wedding, and the biggest question was where to have it. They loved LA, but to be fair, they were really the only two of their family and long-time friends in the area. They could go to Lima, which still sort of felt like home, or at least their childhood homes, or maybe even New York. Hell, at this point, Vegas didn’t seem like a bad idea.

Kurt was getting really good at the Central Park weddings, but did they really want to get married in New York just because a lot of their friends lived there? 

They did figure out that they wanted attendants of both genders, and they would both walk down whatever kind of aisle they had.

Kurt would be Finn’s best man, and Sam would be Puck’s. 

They went to the beach in Malibu one weekend, and saw a wedding taking place. They were outside of this cool restaurant, and decided to go in and check it out, and found their wedding venue.

The Sunset Restaurant offered weddings on the beach with reception packages, and they could go casual or formal. There were plenty of hotels nearby for people to stay, and Puck was doing well enough now that he could afford to put some people up if they couldn’t afford it, like Sarah and Max, or maybe Coach Bieste or Sam.

 

They planned it for the August, and got busy sending the invitations out and working with Kurt on the details. 

 

The big weekend finally arrived. Finn and Puck got to their hotel early afternoon on Friday, and unpacked a bit, and hung their clothing for the wedding, per Kurt’s strict instructions and endless lectures, to avoid wrinkles.

At 3 pm, they went to the lobby, because they had plans to spend time with their most special girl. As they got out of the elevator, they heard a shriek, and saw Beth come running towards them. 

“Daddy! Finn!” Beth jumped into Puck’s arms, and hugged and kissed him. Puck swung her around, and she giggled.

“Oh Monkey, it’s so good to see you,” Puck said, and kissed the top of her head as he set her down. 

“You, too, Daddy! Finn!” Beth squealed as Finn picked her up and hugged her. “Are we going swimming?”

“Yep, that’s what we’re doing, if that’s still okay with your mom,” Finn said.

“Yes, it’s great,” Shelby said. “If dinner is at 6:30, have her up to the room by 5? Is that okay?”

“Perfect, and thanks, Shelby,” Puck said. “Ready for the beach? Let’s hit it!”

 

The three of them had a great time at the beach, and Finn said he was changing Beth’s nickname from Monkey to Fish, since she was a good swimmer and enjoyed the water so much.

When Puck went to buy drinks for everyone, Beth looked at Finn seriously, and said, “Can I ask you a question, Finn?”

“Sure, Fishy, you can ask me anything.”

“If you are marrying my dad, that makes you my stepdad, right?” Beth looked down as she asked this, and Finn knew he had to answer this carefully, as the roles weren’t so clearly defined in this family.

“Yes, but is that okay with you? What’s on your mind?”

“Well, what do I call you? Are you and Daddy going to have kids? What does that make me? I don’t live with him.” She said this very quietly and very quickly.

Finn picked her up, and put her on his lap, sand and all. “Beth, you can call me whatever you want to call me, okay? If you want to stick with Finn, that’s okay, or you can find something else. Whatever you want is all right with me. Your daddy and I may have kids someday, but you are our first kid, and we love you. No matter where you live, or where we live, you are our first child, and no other child will take your place.”

Neither Finn nor Beth noticed Puck, who had come back with the waters. He stood quietly behind them, listening.

“You think I’m your child, Finn?” Beth asked.

“Well, yeah, I do. You know that Quinn, your dad and I have been friends since we were kids, and I’ve loved you since before you were born.” 

Behind Finn, Puck remembered that Beth was almost Finn’s. Fuck. He hadn’t thought of that in years. He guessed now that Finn had, and realized again what a special man Finn was. He was going to help raise the child that was almost his, but instead was Puck’s. 

Finn was still talking, saying, “You and your dad are a package, ya know? Like a really awesome 2-in-1 gift. I wouldn’t have it any other way.” 

“Finn, I love you,” Beth said. “If it’s okay with Daddy, can I call you Dad, and he can be Daddy?”

“Oh honey, I’d be honored, and I love you, too,” Finn said, giving her a hug.

Behind them, Puck cleared his throat and wiped his eyes. 

“It’s perfect. I love you both. Can I get in on this hug with my two favorite people?” Puck asked.

“Of course, Daddy,” Beth said with a giggle, and pulled him in, and they ended up in a pile on the beach blanket, all sandy and wet, and none of them cared.

The rehearsal dinner was beautiful and went off without a hitch, and they had a great time after with all their friends. They went to bed looking forward to the following day.


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning, Finn and Puck woke up nervous, but happy. They had spent the night together at the hotel, and didn’t care about bad luck or any other superstitions.

Their wedding was at 7:30, so they could appreciate the sunset, and they’d have a hell of a party after. 

The wedding party arrived en masse at the restaurant at 6:30, and everyone had a little bit of time to socialize, have a drink, or have a light snack from the appetizer bar. 

Finn was talking with Mike Chang when Beth came up to him, dragging Puck behind her. “Dad, we need to talk!” 

Mike laughed, and said, “Someone means business. I’ll catch up with you all later. Happy Wedding!”

Beth took Finn’s hand, and told Puck and Finn to hold hands, too. When they had, she said, “I talked to my mom last night, and she said I was lucky. I have a lot of families. Since you guys are getting married today, we are becoming a family, officially. I want a family picture of us together. Can we do that?”

“Of course, let’s find the photographer,” Puck said. “I love you both, and we ARE family.”

They got their picture taken, and then it was time for the wedding to start.

Their wedding party walked down the aisle first. Santana and Britt, then Rachel and Beth, Quinn and Mike, Artie and Tina, then Sarah and Jake.

Kurt and Sam, their best men, walked last before Finn and Puck.

Before Finn and Puck walked down, Finn grabbed Puck’s hands, and said, “Can we just take a second? I just want to remember this. This is one of our special moments.”

Puck stood, holding hands with Finn, and took in the moment with his husband-to-be, and then they kissed. 

“Here we go,” Puck said. “I love you.”

“I love you,” Finn said. 

It was time for Finn to walk down the aisle. He was flanked by Carole and Burt, and as he waited for their cue, he looked around at his friends, the beach, and the setting sun. It really was the most beautiful day ever, and he was so happy. 

They got their cue, and started walking. Finn just hoped he didn’t trip on the way down.

 

Puck was up next, walking with Sheldon Bieste. Sheldon had cried when Puck asked him to walk him down the aisle, but Puck couldn’t think of anyone he’d rather ask. He missed his mom fiercely today, but Sarah had a special white rose in her bouquet to honor their mother, and Puck had a photo of her in his pocket.

As they stood waiting for their cue, Puck looked at his friends, his sister, and the setting sun. He never imagined this day would come, when he and Finn would be married. He knew how lucky he was, and promised himself to let Finn know every day that he felt that way. 

Puck and Sheldon got their cue to walk, and started moving down the walkway. Puck just hoped he didn’t face plant on the way down.

 

They met at the end, and joined hands, and smiled. Brittany leaned over to Quinn, and whispered, “This is perfect! Look how happy my dolphins are!” Everyone laughed, but they felt it, too – this was just one of those perfect moments.

Finn and Puck said their vows, promising to love one another, honor one another, and be true to one another, always and in all ways. They said these vows gazing into each other’s eyes, and they couldn’t believe how lucky they were. 

At the beginning of the ceremony, a seagull flew over, and stood in the sand, about 10 feet from the justice of the peace. Puck had noticed it, but didn’t say anything, and when he reached to Sam to get the rings, Sam said, “Did you see the seagull? It hasn’t moved.”

“Yeah, I did.”

They exchanged rings, said “I do”, and became husbands. When the Justice of the Peace pronounced them as such, Finn grinned and said, “We’re husbands!”

Puck said, “Damn right we are! Can we kiss now?”

The Justice laughed, and said, “You may now kiss your husband.”

They kissed, and hugged, and everyone clapped. 

Puck turned to accept a hug from Sarah, and Sarah said, “Do you see the seagull?”

“I do, and it hasn’t moved. Its kind of comforting me, and tripping me out at the same time.”

“So you think what I think? Somehow, it’s Mom, or a representation of Mom, or something?”

“Yeah, I do. I love you, Sar-bear. Can you get Max to get a picture of it?”

“I love you, No-no, and he already has.” They hadn’t called each other those nicknames in years, but somehow, they felt right today.

Finn hugged his husband, and said, “See the seagull? Think it’s your mom?”

“This is why I love you. You calm me.”

“That’s my job, babe. I love you.”

“I love you. Let’s go eat and drink and be merrily married.”

 

They headed towards the reception area, which was a tented seating area with a view of the ocean. Kurt had made sure it was beautiful, with delicate lighting and lovely decorations. They had a nice mix of casual and elegant foods, and of course, an open bar.

They ate, and drank, and then the DJ called them for their first dance. Britt leaned to Quinn, and asked what song they had chosen, and Quinn said, “You’re My Best Friend, of course,” with a small sigh. She was so happy for them.

They cut the cake, Kurt, Sam and Sarah gave the toasts, and then started dancing. Finn and Puck decided it was time to go after they all danced and sang to “We Are Young”, “Somebody To Love”, “Glory Days”, and finally, “Don’t Stop Believin” late into the night. 

They said their goodbyes, and thanked everyone for coming, and left. As they got to their limo, Finn said, “Puck, look,” and pointed.

Puck looked to the side of the parking lot, and there was the seagull. He knew it was the same one as earlier because of it’s markings.

“Babe, is this weird?”

“Maybe, but it’s also really cool,” Finn said.

Puck took a few steps toward the gull, expecting it to fly away. When it didn’t, he took a few more, and it still didn’t move. Not wanting to push his luck, he stopped, and just said quietly, “I don’t know what this is, if you’re Mom, but if you are, I’m so glad you were here. I love you.”

The gull bobbed its head, flapped its wings, then flew away. Puck sighed. 

They got into their limo, and rode back to their hotel. As they walked to their room, they were quiet, until Puck opened their door and said, “I love you so much, my husband.”

“My husband,” Finn said with a smile. “I love you, too.” He kissed Puck, and removed his jacket. “Does this feel different to you? It does to me.”

“It does. It feels better, more something. Just more.” He kissed Finn, and they began to celebrate and consummate their marriage.

 

The following morning, they went to brunch with everyone, and Puck took Sarah aside to tell her about the gull and what happened as they were leaving.

“I don’t know if I’m losing my mind, but I kinda think it was Mom, Sar.”

“Noah, does it bring you comfort to think she was at your wedding?” 

Puck thought for a moment before answering. “Yeah, it actually does.”

“Then don’t question it. It doesn’t hurt anything to believe it, and maybe it actually was her. Just enjoy it, and enjoy your new marriage.”

“You’re so smart, Sar-bear. Love you,” Puck said.

“Love you, No-no.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For more on Sam and Mercedes, see Sam's story, [I Saw Her Standing There](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6046438/chapters/13863208), and Mercedes' story, [I Found You](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6096655/chapters/13974901).

They went to Cabo San Lucas on their honeymoon and came back to settle into married life. 

They decided it was time to buy a house, and they found one they both liked pretty quickly. It was close to Finn’s school and Puck’s office, and not that far from the beach, which was a priority. This time, the furniture they bought was “real”, as Finn called it, and came delivered, already assembled. They bought a new entertainment unit, and put the old ugly one with the upside down doors in the guest room, and used it for storage.

They even got a dog, and after a lot of discussion, named the mixed breed rescue, “Mutt”. 

 

They saw Sam for a weekend when he came to see Mercedes on the spur of the moment to win her back, but found out she was involved with some guy. Puck went to pick him up near her house, and found him devastated. 

They spent the weekend hanging out, and trying to make him feel better, but Sam was inconsolable. Sam wouldn’t tell them who the guy was, and after he left, Puck and Finn realized they weren’t sure if he knew and wouldn’t tell, or just didn’t know.

They figured it didn’t matter, really. Mercy wasn’t talking to anyone, so like Sam said, her secrets weren’t theirs to know any longer.

 

They went to New York a few times to see Kurt, Blaine and baby Eliza, who was quite possibly the cutest baby girl ever. She was a great mix of her parents, including Rachel, who was their surrogate. 

 

They went to Lima for Sarah and Max’s wedding, which was bittersweet. As Puck walked Sarah down the aisle, he was so proud doing it, but it highlighted their loss of Ruth, and even their father, who had walked away willingly years before. 

At the reception, Sarah told Puck she was about two months pregnant, and if it was a boy, they wanted to name him Noah. When Finn joined them, he realized Puck was crying, but it was tears of joy.

 

The following year, they went back to Lima for Sam and Katie’s wedding. They had met Katie, a music teacher at McKinley, at Nationals the year before, and knew then that she was it for Sam, and they were so happy for him. It was a bit of a whirlwind romance, but truly, it was easy to see they were meant to be together. 

They also got to spend some time with Sarah and Max, and the most badass baby ever, Noah. 

 

Back in LA, they hung out with Tina, Artie and their kids, and they all agreed they didn’t get together enough when they lived so close.

 

All of this brought Puck and Finn to the realization that they wanted kids, and were ready for them.

After some long discussions and research, they decided to sign up with some adoption agencies, and also talk to Quinn about possibly being a surrogate for them. Quinn had married Wes Montgomery, and had twins, and was living in New York, practicing law. They had no idea if she would be open to it, but they liked the idea of Quinn being their surrogate.

They knew she’d be at the big anniversary party in a few weeks and they would talk to her then. 

After settling on that, Puck looked at Finn, and leaned in for a kiss. 

“I really love you, babe,” Finn said. “We could have everything.”

“We really could, and I wouldn’t want any of it with anyone else. I can’t wait for ‘everything’ with you. I really love you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Title comes from the great Queen song [You're My Best Friend](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAsPu-FTBsw)


End file.
